Posts Tagged ‘building a book of business for lawyers’

Law school (almost) grads, rejoice!

Monday, March 21st, 2011

It looks as though those of you who are graduating in the next couple of months have something to celebrate – a greater likelihood for a legal job!  According to The National Law Journal, a recent study indicates that associate hiring is almost back to pre-financial-crisis levels.

In 2009, offer rates for associates who worked in the firm’s summer programs were at the lowest rates in years. Fortunately, 2010 rates bounced back considerably, and 2011 offers seem to be heading in the same direction.

It seems that there is light at the end of the tunnel:  at least for new law school grads.  For the rest of us, the recruiting rate still looks a bit sluggish.

“Things are turning around in the legal market, but they’re still a bit slow,” said Delia Swan, president of Swan Legal Search.  “All attorneys need to make sure that they are really getting themselves out there actively networking and keeping optimistic.  In the current legal hiring climate, that’s what it takes.”

So, what does that mean?  “That means that attorneys need to brush up on their interviewing skills, have several people review their resumes, research like crazy and, if possible, start generating revenue.  Nothing is more attractive to a firm than an attorney who can bring business when they join the firm.”

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Posted in california legal market trends, For lawyers | No Comments »

Making sure you’re on the right side of the widening pay gap at big law

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Many of you know exactly what we’re talking about – the noticeable pay gap widening among partners at large firms.  Since the economic downturn, the trend has become even more apparent.  Firms are trimming everywhere they can and paying the “star” lawyers even more.  Why?  They need the business.  Law firms don’t run solely on reputation and law school pedigrees.  They need clients to be successful.  It’s clear that they are making sure that lawyers who bring in clients make as much money as necessary to make them stay.

So, the key is to be one of the attorneys who can bring the clients.  It’s absolutely critical that, as a partner, you are bringing cases and as an associate you are building the foundation to generate revenue.  Do you have a book of business?  If not, it’s time you get to work.  We recommend reading our earlier blog series about how to bring business.

We want to hear from you, in the trenches.  Do you see this trend at your own firm?  What are you doing to bring more business to the firm?

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Posted in career development, For law firms | No Comments »

Building business in spite of the other partners

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

It’s true.  Not every attorney “gets” marketing and self-promotion.  Those attorneys who do are usually not thrilled about putting them into action.  It isn’t why you signed up to be a lawyer, but it needs to be done.  So, how do you get started when you know it must be done and the other partners are reluctant (or downright refuse) to help and support you?  Great question!

Start slowly

Start with small things that you know how to do without a huge learning curve.  One day at a time.  Check out our step by step process of how to market yourself and generate revenue.  This way, you can start marketing without outside financial help.  Also, you’ll probably do these things so quickly that no one will realize you’re not doing your “real” job of helping clients.

Keep track of your progress

Keep a marketing journal of everything you do and the date on which you did them.  After several weeks, you’ll begin to see some results, and you want to know which of your efforts actually produced the results.  No sense wasting time on things that don’t work.   You want to concentrate on things that help grow your book of business.

After you start seeing results, it’s time to put them into a report and show the partners.  You can prove to them that your efforts are working.  You’ll be amazed how quickly their attitudes change when they see how much money marketing and networking can bring in to the firm!

Be persistent

It’s true that marketing doesn’t always result in immediate success.  Sometimes, your efforts will take awhile to show results.  That’s OK.  Since you’re tracking progress, you’ll appreciate the little steps and you can see what is working and what isn’t.  Stick to a schedule and treat marketing like it’s a second part of your job.  You will see results eventually.  Make sure you give your efforts enough time to reap rewards!

Need more help?  Contact us!  We know that bringing business can be overwhelming, and we’re here to help!

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Posted in Client Development Tips, For lawyers | No Comments »